Shared Secrets
by bhfirewife
Summary: Sometimes discovering one shared secret can lead to discovering more.


Disclaimer: Only thing I own related to FFX, is one copy each of the game, and the strategy guide.

Rikku had not told Aruon yet, but she knew his secret. But you can't really go up to someone that you had met only a few days before and say, "Hey, by the way, I know that you are dead and an unsent." That just wasn't done. And that left Rikku wondering how she was going to let him know that she knew.

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Passing through Guadosalam, Rikku had begun to hear the rumbles of thunder as they neared the exit that led to the other side of the town. She had forgotten that the Thunder Plains were the next place that they had to travel through. How could she have forgotten about a place like that?

After Auron threatened to leave her behind is she did not move with the group, she closed her eyes for a moment and told herself that the loud bangs and the bright flashes were nothing more than a fireworks display, one that never ended. One that never ends AND could fry you if you got hit by it. _Bad thoughts! Stop that! Now get moving before they really do leave you behind! she had told herself._

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_Once they took pity on the poor thief and stopped at the inn in the middle of the plains, she was happy beyond measure. It was getting hard for her to keep convincing herself that the lightning was just fireworks._

_When the group was inside the shelter, she had been asked about her fear. So she told them about swimming with her brother, being attacked by a water fiend, how her brother had used a thunder spell to fight the fiend, as well as how she had found herself as the target for the spell instead of the fiend that he was trying to protect her from._

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_She looked at everyone as she told her story. She saw pity in the faces of Yuna and Lulu. She saw Wakka and Tidus trying to hide the amusement that they felt at the humour that they found in the tale. She had no idea what Kimarahi's expression was._

_When she looked to Auron, she thought that she saw a flash of concern cross his face, but it was gone before she could be sure that had been what she saw._

_She had hated not telling them the full truth, but she did not want to see anything other than the warmth and welcome they offered to her now, as selfish as that was._

_She knew keeping her Al Bhed bloodlines from Wakka was bad enough, but she saw it the same way as the rest saw not mentioning the end result of Yuna's pilgrimage to Tidus. They weren't hiding it, really, it was something that they knew and understood, and did not really see a need to talk about it._

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_After the destruction of Home and Wakka's comment about the rockets, she knew that she would never be able to look at another fireworks display again. First the thunder and lightning as they crossed the Thunder Plains, and now, the missiles that had been used to destroy the only home that she had even known._

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_Auron watch Rikku storm past him as she left the bridge of the Airship, fighting the tears in her eyes as well as the anger that was in her step. He decided to give her some time to cool down before he sought her out. In the meantime figured he would go and see what had upset the young girl so._

_Entering the bridge of the Airship Auron saw, Lulu being held back by Tidus, and one of the crew members holding Cid back. He could see that the two were trying to get to Wakka, who was trying to hide behind Kimarahi, who kept stepping away from the blitzer._

_Looking at Wakka, Auron said the only thing he could, "What in Yevon's name did you do?"_

_The glare that the older man sent him scared Wakka even more and he was unable to find his voice. Tidus spoke up and told Auron what had happened._

_Auron just closed his eye and shook his head at the younger man, looking to Cid, he said, in perfect, Al Bhed, "Ra ec milgo dryd mra tet rud tileta du taym fedr res. Ra fuimt pa fymlehk vihho fedr res pmedupymm ib rec ycc. (He is lucky that she did not decide to deal with him. He would be walking funny with his blitz ball up his ass.)"_

_Cid snorted and replied, "Ra cdemm seknd oad, ev E kad so ryhtc uh res! (He still might yet, if I get my hands on him!)"_

"_Cid, ayco, (Cid, easy), Tidus spoke up, intrupting the older men. "Ra tet rud sayh du cuiht sayn. Ra fyc zicd dnouhk du ramb Rikku vaam paddan, ajah ev ra tet rud bruumi res funtc fecamo. (He did not mean to sound mean. He was just trying to help her feel better, even if he did not choose his words wisely.)"_

_Auron and Cid both looked at the young blond, both amazed by how well he could speak Al Bhed, and at the truth that he pointed out. Looking back at Wakka, Auron could see that he was upset because he had hurt Rikku._

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_Auron left the bridge, once he could be sure that Wakka would be safe, and began to search the airship for Rikku. He found her in what appeared to be an empty supply room. As he stepped closer to where she was sitting, he could hear her quietly sobbing._

"_Rikku?" he said quietly, so as to not startle her completely. She still jumped a bit at the sound of her voice, however. "Cunno (Sorry), I did not mean to startle you," he added._

_Rikku wiped her eyes, and grinned sadly up to him. "It is alright," she said. As her eyes filled with tears once more, the only thing Auron could think to do has to pull her into a hug and offer her comfort as best as he could._

_\Sighing deeply, she said, "I don't know how you can do this, but I am so tired."_

"_Let's find you a room, and you can get some sleep. You will feel better after you get some rest, "Auron said, as he led her towards the door._

_They had barely taken a couple steps when Rikku said, "I almost wish that I had been left behind when Home was destroyed."_

_Auron's eye widened in shock, and he pushed her away from him far enough that he could see her face. "Rikku! You cannot mean that truly? How is it that you could wish for your death!"_

_Rikku chuckled coldly. "I never wished your death, but if I had been there when my father blew it up, hell even when the Guado had attacked, maybe I would have been able to find some rest. It has been too long since I last really had a rest."_

_Confusion caused Auron's brows to draw together. "Rikku? What do you mean?"_

_Rikku looked up at Auron, "How was it that you died?"_

_Caught off guard by her sudden change in topic, he could only stammer, "H…h…how did you know?"_

_Little things, but I have known since we were in Guadosalam. My first hint had been what Seymour said about Guado's being keen to the smell of the Farplain after he had asked you what you were still doing here. Then when you didn't enter the Farplain. And finally when Yuna sent Jyscal, I saw you had grown weak. When did you die Auron?"_

"_I should have known you would have figured it out."_

"_That's right! As a thief I have to study people to see if they would make an easy mark. Now, answer my question!"_

"_Ten years ago, after Braska defeated Sin. I returned to Zanarkand to where he obtained the final Aeon. That's where I had been killed."_

"_What is it that keeps you here?"_

"_My promises to Braska and Jecht. I told them I would watch over their kids. Well I only promises Jecht that I would watch over Tidus. I promised Braska that I would see that Yuna got to Besaid to live."_

"_I should known that you would have stayed only for such unselfish reasons."_

_Auron gave her a few minutes to see if she had anything else she was going to say. When she remained silent as well, he decided to bring the conversation back to her._

"_What did you mean about finally getting some rest?"_

"_Like you, Auron, I too am an unsent."_

_Auron's eye widened in shock. "When? How?" The man had trouble believing that Rikku, the liveliest of the group, was in fact an unsent, dead, just like him._

_Smiling sadly at Auron once again, Rikku dais, "Remember when after I had begged we stopped for the night at the inn half way through the Thunder Plains?_

_Auron only nodded, wondering where this was going._

"_Remember how I told everyone about how I became afraid of lightning?"_

_Once again, she watched the red clad guardian nod._

"_What I did not say was, while that spell had been the beginning of my fear, it had been the end of my life."_

"_How long ago?" Auron choked out, past the sorrow he felt for the young girl, dying as a child, and at the hands of a family member, even if it had been an accident._

"_Nine years ago, in a couple of days."_

"_One hell of a week for you then," he commented dryly. He heard her chuckle darkly again, and decided that sound tore at his heart more than the sound of her crying did._

"_Why do you stay, Rikku?"_

"_I did not want to make my family sadder."_

"_Sadder?"_

"_My mother had died not even a year before that. I could tell that they still missed her as much as I did."_

_Auron smiled slightly, "You have always put others' needs before your own, haven't you?"_

"_E dno (I try)," Rikku said, feeling the tears well up in her eyes again. "But this would have been a good time for me to have allowed myself to go to spend time with my mother. I know that I would have been missed, and I also know that this is a tragic time for my family. RAMM! (HELL!) For all of my people. But I would rather have Pops blaming the act of the Guado than an accident of my brother's, for my death." She snorted a teary chuckle. "How bad of a person does that make me? I would rather put the blame of my death onto a race of people innocent of it, than taint my father's view of his son."_

"_That does not make you a bad person. It shows that you are a loving sister and daughter." Auron said as he pulled her into another hug. Comforting her as she cried some more._

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_Once Rikku's tears calmed once more, Aruon spoke, "Brother does not seem like the type that would learn to use magic."_

_Rikku chuckled a bit, "Not that brother. Brother thinks magic is a waste of time, and is of little use to us Al Bhed."_

"_Which brother was the magic user?"_

_Rikku's eyes watered again slightly, but the tears sis not fall. "The one that died in my arms shortly after we arrived at Home."_

_Auron remembered the young man. He had been unable but to wonder if the young man had been her lover at the time._

_Before he could stop himself, Aruon said, "Your brother! I had thought he was you boyfriend." He cursed himself silently, as he had originally planned to say nothing about that._

_Rikku giggled slightly and Auron started to feel glad that he had let that slip after all._

"_No, I had no one waiting for me to return from any missions, except for my father and brothers."_

_Auron knew that an unsent body felt the same urges and desires as any living body, only stronger. He remembered how strong those feelings had been for himself as a teenager, he could not begin to imagine being an unsent teenager, trying to fight the hormones._

"_You have never had a boyfriend?"_

"_I have a couple of lovers, if that is what you mean. But I never had a deep emotional relationship with anyone. I would not allow anyone to get that close to me, I know that I would be unable to tell them that I was an unsent."_

_Auron knew what she had meant, he had kept himself from deeply emotional relationships, himself for the same reason, plus he knew that he couldn't allow anything from keeping his promise to Jecht._

_Looking into Rikku's eyes, Auron said to the young unsent, "Let's help fins Yuna, then after Sin is defeated, we will both go together and get the rest both our bodies crave. Sin can take the blame for your death."_

_Rikku returned the look and gave him the first true smile he saw on her lips since their battle with Brother on Lake Macalania. She then reached up, pulled the edge of his gorget down and kissed him on the cheek. "Dryhg oui (Thank you)," she said as she pulled back._

_She then allowed him to lead her from the room, to find somewhere they could both rest for now._

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_As the pilgrimage continued the two unsents grew closer because of their shared secret. Rikku had been slightly hurt that Auron had not told her that it had been Yunalesca that had killed him, she understood why he hadn't._

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_By the time that they found all the Celestial weapons, the pair found that they had more in common then the shared secret of their living status. They each also discovered that they had fallen in love with each other, and were glad that they did not have to hide it from each other. They both already knew the other's major secret, and had already planned to move onto the Farplain together after Sin had been defeated._

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_When it cam time for Yuna to send the fayth and YuYevon, she had been shocked to see the pyerflies that escaped not only the guardian that she had shared with her father, but her cousin as well._

"_Yunie, I only ask one final favour. Tell my father that I had died fighting Sin, and that my final words had been that I loved him and brother. That is all that they need to know."_

"_Don't stop," Auron told Yuna,. Then, after looking each of his companions, he added, "This is your world now."_

_As Yuna continued the sending, the pair vanished into a burst of pyerflies._

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_They emerged onto the Farplain and were greeted by their friends and family. After Tidus arrived, to Rikku's surprise, they headed off to find the rest they both knew they other deserved._


End file.
